Texas was among the most resilient states during the recession, so it's no surprise that San-Antonio-based Cullen/Frost Bankers was one of the banks that happily refused bailout money from Washington.
The bank's CEO, Dick Evans, recently told CNNMoney that the decision allowed Cullen/Frost to stay focused on its customers and avoid distraction from the government.
And that's a good sign for shareholders, too, said John Snyder, manager of the John Hancock Sovereign Investors fund, which owns shares of the bank.
He doesn't think any banks are home run investments due to all the uncertainties surrounding Wall Street reform, but he's a fan of those with clean balance sheets and plenty of capital like Cullen/Frost.
Those types of advantages, he said, have helped the bank consistently pay dividends to shareholders with a yield of almost 3.5%, which is likely to get healthier as the bank increases its dividend over the next few years.
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